Concrete handmixing versus pumping

I got a bid from a contractor to add concrete to my crawlspace.
He indicated he would use 5/8 minus gravel and pump in the concrete,
when he did the bidding.
After we signed the contract he went into the space and now claims that
pumping it in will not work because the pump guys will charge 150 extra
per hour of extra length of hose and that that the extra
He said he can have his guys cart in buckets of concrete which sounds
to me
a) very labor intensive
b) wont be consistent.
c) the concrete layer will be very thing as they might be tempted to
take shortcut since it is appears to be so laborious
Its a 1500 sq foot crawlspace. How much concrete would he need- I
shudder to think of how many buckets they are going to have to haul in.
Is this a red flag ? Should I insist on the initial agreement and ask
him to get the pump and not do it manually. he also grumbled about the
finishing time- saying he will need to hurry up with the finishing and
it wont be so good if he hires a pump.
How much concrete would one need for a 1500 sq foot basement ?
Thanks
Ani

Yea, it is labor intensive. I did mine about the same area, one 40 lb
bag at a time. It took months and that was just me and a iffy back.
Think of it this way, it is a craw space. It need not be a work of art.
It need not be perfect.
Mine is not a work of art, but it does keep the chipmunks out, which
was the reason I put it in.

You will need a lot if it is a 4" pour. Some one posted a calculatore
for you but the calulation is simple. 1500 ft square, divide by 1/3 500 cu ft, divide by 27 = 19 yards.
He may not be talking about handmixing. He would probably order up a
pre-mix load.
Harry K

I needed about a yard to use as the base of an antenna tower. Had 50 bags
delivered and rented a mixer that would probalby take 2 bage at a time but I
only mixed one bag at a time. That was all I thought I could handle with
the mixer and get it to pour in the holw. It took about 4 to 5 hours to mix
that up and just dump it in the hole next to the mixer. Used 43 bags in
that hole. About what I caculated. Thought I would use 45. I needed the
other bags for the guy wire posts and only had one 80 lb bag left over out
of the 50.
I would hate to think of the time and effort it would take to haul 10 to 20
yards of the stuff. Also the cost of the bags is much more than the ready
mix in the truck, especially if you get more than about 3 or 4 yards. Think
a guy at work got 3 or 4 yards delivered in the mixer truck for what I had
in the yard I mixed. Where I wanted the cement a truck could not get to and
did not need the other 3 yards to make up the minimum ammount they charge
you for if you use it or not for the delivery.

That's a couple of truckloads of concrete. Not too likely
they'll carry it in buckets. Maybe it could be done
with wheelbarrows if the truck chutes can be directed
into the crawl space and men could drive wheelbarrows
in there.
Pumping is very efficient and pretty fast. Sounds like
your guy is goofy- I suspect he is not experienced or
a professional at this if he changes his mind so much.
A professional would have looked at your job and
determined for sure what needed to be done.
P.S. I drove a cement truck for 18 months a long time
ago so have a little experience with this. The real
cement finishers were expert and knew exactly what
they were doing- and the fly-by-nights, handymen
and homeowners usually struggled to figure things out.
thetiler
A wrote:

First of all, not being able to see your particular jobsite makes it
difficult to weigh in on this one. What kind of access is there to this
space?
Based on what you've said, and being a concrete contractor, I cannot
imagine carting in 19 cubic yards of concrete. F.Y.I. - a concrete truck
usually holds 10 cubic yards, so you are looking at 2 truck loads.
It sounds to me like your contractor doesn't have much experience with pump
trucks, especially the cost involved. Using a pump truck does not make the
concrete more difficult to finish, where as taking several hours to cart in
19 yards of concrete will make it much more difficult to place and finish.
The benefit of a pump truck is that the concrete can be placed much faster,
thus giving the finishers much more time to do their job.
Hope this helps.

Log in

HomeOwnersHub.com is a website for homeowners and building and maintenance pros. It is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.